Garlic and Bay Ribeye Steak with Vegetable Fried Cauliflower Rice

I have been on a fat-fighting mission of late, still holding onto a good few extra pounds of baby weight and recently underwent a 30 day challenge of healthy eating Monday-Friday with treats (including alcohol) at the weekend only. This was a success and I shed 12lbs during this time - I still have a little way to go and with some of the meals I developed during this time, I need to keep up the healthy eating for at least Monday-Fridays for a few more months now to get down to my goal weight - some, such as this steak and 'rice' meal are so good that I would eat them whether dieting or not. 

This recipe is for 1 person - but obviously increase accordingly if cooking for more people. 

The fad for cauliflower rice was one that I admittedly scoffed at initially, but actually have found that by giving plenty of plenty to the cauliflower it is more than edible and in fact can be delicious in a variety of ways. Served here with a deliciously marinated and quick-fried ribeye steak, it feels like a luxury meal compared to usual diet fodder of soup or a salad. 'Fake' carbs such as cauliflower rice and courgette pasta have been my saviour during this diet. 

The below comes in at around 506 calories (via MyFitnessPal) and takes only 15 minutes to prepare and cook.

Here's how: 

• 200g ribeye steak
• 100g caulfower rice (can prepare this by grating the white part of a cauliflower with coarsely - or can buy ready made from the likes of Tesco)
• 1 spring onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 red chilli
• 50g mushrooms
• Half a green pepper
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• 50g cherry tomatoes 
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil

Firstly you need to marinate the steak. Into a bowl pour 1 tbsp of the olive oil, using the bare minimum, as here, will keep the calorie count down, but ensure the flavour is good. Add the bay leaves to the oil and add two of the garlic cloves - roughly chopped (no need to peel). Set aside in the kitchen - don't put back into the fridge.

If you need to prepare your 'rice' then use a box grater on the largest side to coarsely grate and set aside.Pour the remaining oil into a non-stick pan and place on a low heat.

At this point also place on a medium heat the griddle or pan for which you will cook the steak. Pop the cherry tomatoes in to griddle.

Finely chop the spring onion, garlic and chilli and add to the pan to flavour the oil. 

In the meantime finely chop the peppers and mushrooms too. Add the peppers to the pan and stir through. Once the peppers start to soften, this is time to pop the rice in to cook - and at the same time the steak will need to be popped into the other pan to cook also - before doing so I sprinkle on some salt and pepper onto each side of the steak for final seasoning.

I like my steak rare so I use a timer and cook a 200g steak like this for 1.5 minutes on a high but obviously cook to your own preference. While it's cooking, I add some further flavour to the cauliflower rice - a pinch each of salt and pepper and a good sprinkling of smoky paprika.

Once the steak is cooked to your liking, set aside to rest for three minutes off of the heat. 

Give the cauliflower rice a final stirring ensuring each piece is 'coated' in the flavoured oil and vegetable mixture and then dish up. Pop your steak on top and add the cherry tomatoes to the plate. Enjoy!